ASSAD Assassinated !!

[UPCrawfish]

Don't know what this is going to do to the local guns / ammunition / 2nd A issues but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be a good thing for the unstable region of the ME...

http://www.israelnewsagency.com/basharassadsyriaassassinationdeadiranrussiaarmyusisraelidfnatoturkeyalawitesobamanetanyahu48032413.html

[OnTheFly]

Don't know what this is going to do to the local guns / ammunition / 2nd A issues but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be a good thing for the unstable region of the ME...

http://www.israelnewsagency.com/basharassadsyriaassassinationdeadiranrussiaarmyusisraelidfnatoturkeyalawitesobamanetanyahu48032413.html

Hmmmm...it MAY be true, but no one else (CNN, Fox, or any of the other biased "news" outlets) appears to have picked the story up.  I did a Google search for "Assad Assassination" and didn't find anything from the networks.

Who knows what the truth will be when the dust settles.

Fly

[Dan W]

OOOOPs, for a second there I thought you said ASHFORD..my bad.

[UPCrawfish]

OTF, you could be right about verification...   The source is not one of the mainstream news outlets over here but he has not been seen in over 48 hours and one would think that he would come forward and bolster the confidence of his followers.   

[OnTheFly]

OTF, you could be right about verification...   The source is not one of the mainstream news outlets over here but he has not been seen in over 48 hours and one would think that he would come forward and bolster the confidence of his followers.   

Could be.  Mind you I'm not saying that the mainstream media is always right, but they will jump on stories when they only have a smattering of facts, and they haven't done that yet.  Like I said, we will see what the truth is when the dust settles.

Fly

[Dan W]

Mind you I'm not saying that the mainstream media is always right, but they will jump on stories when they only have a smattering of facts, and they haven't done that yet.

Fly

They only do that when it fits their agenda

[OnTheFly]

They only do that when it fits their agenda

Agreed, and I would think that if this information was accurate, one of the sides would be jumping all over it.  Of course then they other would be playing it down and presenting counter information to disprove their competitor's position.

Fly

[JimP]

I think that's a REAL Funkylooking linky.

Not Clickin' That.

[RedDot]

True or not, I don't see it helping the situation.  At this point there are too many actors all working off their own scripts.  Al Qaida, Hezbollah, Syrian nationalists(Ba'athists?), Russians, Iranians,..most likely elements with Turkish, Kurdish, maybe even Israeli backing.  It's like an asshole convention at 3a.m. in Atlantic City, anybody with any sense doesn't want to be there.  IMHO it's a tar-baby we should just keep our hands off of.

[Hank]

I think that's a REAL Funkylooking linky.

Not Clickin' That.

Thanks for the tip off..lol, believe I`ll pass too

[HuskerXDM]

OOOOPs, for a second there I thought you said ASHFORD..my bad.

I nearly spit out my drink...

[OnTheFly]

I think that's a REAL Funkylooking linky.

Not Clickin' That.

I don't have to worry about that sort of stuff...I run a Mac.   

Fly

[unfy]

http://rt.com/news/syria-assad-death-rumor-762/

Claimed to be a rumor.

[GreyGeek]

I don't have to worry about that sort of stuff...I run a Mac. 

Me neither.  I run Linux (Kubuntu 12.04 to be exact!)

[GreyGeek]

I've been following this rumor since very  late Saturday night. 

Only two news sources confirmed it. One was an Israeli newspaper and the other was RT (Russia Today).   The latter happened to mention something else that was very interesting.  Assad has been living on board a Russian warship cruising in the Mediterranean sea since last July.  He flies to Damascus to make speeches from his palace there, from time to time,  giving the appearance he is there all the time. 

At the same time as the assassination news two surprising incidents took place.  The Damascus State TV station was shut down, and the Brigade 38 air base was overrun by rebels.  There they captures many heavy weapons = surface to air missiles, anti-tank weapons, etc...

It doesn't look like Syria will continue much longer with Assad at the head.    What will take his place will be much worse for us, for  Syrian women, and for Israel.  The jihadists next target will be Lebanon.  When that is  overrun then Israel will be completely surrounded by Islamic fundamentalists nations, one of which is just a year or so away from possessing one or more atom bombs. 

My  suspicions are that Iran has already succeeded in mastering the procedures for making atomic bombs and are in the process of stockpiling sufficient numbers to be able to give some to other jihadists states so that all can attack Israel from different directions at the same time.  From what I've read Israel has about 60 missile capable nuclear warheads but I don't know if they have enough  launch facilities or capabilities to  launch at Iraq,  Syria, Lebanon,  Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and some other northern African Muslim states at the same time.

We will probably know sometime between now and the end of the year.

[Neeco]

We will probably know sometime between now and the end of the year.

You meant to say: "We will probably know sometime between now and the end of the World."

FIFY...

[JimP]

"We will probably know sometime between now and the end of the World."

Whichever comes first .....

[GreyGeek]

"We will probably know sometime between now and the end of the World."

Only if China and Russia decide to use a nuclear engagement.  However, they are both smart enough to  realize  that an exchange between them and the Western powers would destroy ALL parties, and most everyone else as well.

The real  worm in the ointment is that loony controlling North Korea.  He is doing his best to provoke South Korea and/or the US into action  that could justify them playing with their new toys -- nuclear tipped intermediate ballistic missiles, which they'd love to fire at Alaska, Guam and other American properties.   However, I believe that our military has the ability to take out such missiles during their boost phase or at apogee, when they are traveling the slowest and make the easiest targets.    With what?  Energy beams, of course.  We probably have something similar to COILs (Chemical Oxygen Iodine Lasers) but more efficient,and in orbit now, and on various types of aircraft  that are in the air at all times.  In addition, we have missiles that can be carried by bombers and even fighter aircraft that can be fired from 40K feet and rise to orbital altitudes to take out missiles or satellites.  So does Russia and China.   NKorea is 50 years behind the big guys and as things are it isn't worth their time or resources to bother with him.   IF he does a land invasion of SKorea that will be another foolish mistake.  He doesn't have the infrastructure nor depth of resources to sustain such an operation or to counter rear guard actions for any length of time.  And, a hundred thousand troops flooding over roads, fields and rivers would invite massive deployment of thermobaric devices which can kill all people by blast effects within a radius of a 1,000 feet or more and destroy deep bunkers and installations, and the people in them.  The  pressure waves are enormous.   Those on the edges who  survive would probably spend the next few minutes of their lives wiping blood away from their eyes, ears, nose and mouth so they can see to clean the poop and pee out of their pants.

[RedDot]

The  pressure waves are enormous.   Those on the edges who  survive would probably spend the next few minutes of their lives wiping blood away from their eyes, ears, nose and mouth so they can see to clean the poop and pee out of their pants.

There's a visual for ya!  We could probably settle NKorea down by bombing them with cases of Ramen noodles. 

I worry more about the MidEast.  Although they keep it real quiet, I believe Israel has a goodly stockpile of nuclear weapons, and faced with the prospect of being overrun, facing extinction as a nation, and risking having those stockpiles in their enemies hands....    An important fact to remember is the highly concentrated urban demographic prevalent in most muslim countries.  Exactly the kind of target nukes were devised for.  The Israeli/Muslim issues would essentially be over as there would be few enough of either left.  Our problems however would just begin.